Hazrat Imam Hussain’s (RA) head buried in Karbala, not Israel, say Ulema

ASHKELON: About 50 Muslim pilgrims paying respects at an ancient tomb: not an unusual scene in the Middle East.
But this shrine is located on the grounds of an Israeli hospital known mainly for treating the casualties of conflict in the nearby Gaza Strip.The Barzilai Medical Centre in the coastal town of Ashkelon is home to a tomb where, in the view of some Muslims, the head of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA), the grandson of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH), lay buried for centuries following his death in battle.
“We pray, first of all, to respect the head of Imam Hussain (RA) because he was martyred,” the worshippers’ leader, Sheikh Moiz Tarmal, says. “And we believe that if we pray here, God will listen to us.
“Many Muslims believe all of Imam Hussain’s body was buried near where he was martyred at Karbala in present-day Iraq. “Others hold that his head was hidden in Ashkelon in the 10th century before later being spirited away to its final resting place in Egypt. Among the latter are the Dawoodi Bohra, a Shia sect with around a million adherents worldwide.
“Its members come annually on pilgrimage to the ornate marble enclosure marking the tomb on a grassy hillock within the Barzilai campus. “Moshe Hananel, an Israeli scholar who helps arrange the Barzilai visits, said some of the pilgrims who flock to the hospital come from countries that do not recognise Israel. Their entry is approved in advance,” he said.
Tarmal saw divine intervention in the hospital being spared. “We believe it is a holy place,” he said. “Many rockets do come into Ashkelon, but that place has always been safe at the end, so we believe it is spiritual.” —ReutersOur Karachi correspondent adds: Renowned Ulema from Shia school of thought have strongly denounced the story released by a British news agency, terming it as concocted.
Leader of Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen, Allama Ameen Shaheedi, has said that the news item was no more than a joke as all Ulema and historians agreed that the head of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) was brought from Syria to Karbala and buried there.
A religious scholar and leader of Shia Ulema Council Maulana Jaffar Subhani said that he did not find any relevant mention in the history. H added that there were some traditions with regard to this but they were mere fabrications.
According to a tradition, the heads of all the martyrs were given to Hazrat Imam Zainul Abideen (RA) and he brought them to Karbala and buried them.